UPSC Civil Services (IAS) Prelims asked 22 World Geography questions between 2016–2025. Reading them together shows which topics keep returning and how examiners frame them.
Consider the following countries:
I. Bolivia
II. Brazil
III. Colombia
IV. Ecuador
V. Paraguay
VI. Venezuela
Andes mountains pass through how many of the above countries?
Answer: (c) Only four
The Andes pass through Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Of those listed, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela have the Andes. Brazil and Paraguay do not. So four.
Consider the following water bodies:
I. Lake Tanganyika
II. Lake Tonlé Sap
III. Patos Lagoon
Through how many of them does the equator pass?
Answer: (d) None
The equator passes through none of them. Lake Tanganyika lies about 3°–9° S (the equator crosses Lake Victoria instead), Tonlé Sap is in Cambodia at about 13° N, and Patos Lagoon is in southern Brazil at about 31° S.
Consider the following countries:
I. United Kingdom
II. Denmark
III. New Zealand
IV. Australia
V. Brazil
How many of the above countries have more than four time zones?
Answer: (b) Only four
Counting overseas territories, the UK (9 time zones), Australia (9), Denmark (5, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands) and New Zealand (5) each have more than four. Brazil has exactly four. So four countries.
Consider the following pairs:
Country - Resource-rich in
I. Botswana : Diamond
II. Chile : Lithium
III. Indonesia : Nickel
In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?
Answer: (c) All the three
All three are correctly matched. Botswana is a leading diamond producer, Chile has the world's largest lithium reserves, and Indonesia has the largest nickel reserves and is the largest producer.
Consider the following pairs:
Region - Country
I. Mallorca : Italy
II. Normandy : Spain
III. Sardinia : France
In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?
Answer: (d) None
None is correctly matched. Mallorca is in Spain (Balearic Islands), Normandy is in France, and Sardinia is in Italy.
Answer: (c) Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana
Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana in West Africa are the world's two largest cocoa producers. Together they produce well over half of global output.
Consider the following countries:
1. Finland
2. Germany
3. Norway
4. Russia
How many of the above countries have a border with the North Sea?
Answer: (b) Only two
The North Sea is bordered by the UK, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Of those listed, only Germany and Norway border it. Finland and Russia lie on the Baltic Sea.
Consider the following information:
1. Central Asia - Vosges - Fold mountain
2. Europe - Alps - Block mountain
3. North America - Appalachians - Fold mountain
4. South America - Andes - Fold mountain
In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?
Answer: (b) Only two
Row 1 is incorrect: the Vosges are in Europe (France) and are block mountains.
Row 2 is incorrect: the Alps are young fold mountains, not block mountains.
Rows 3 and 4 are correct: the Appalachians (old) and the Andes (young) are fold mountains.
Answer: (a) Canada and the United States of America
The Canada–USA border, about 8,891 km including the Alaska section, is the longest international border in the world.
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I: Sumed pipeline is a strategic route for Persian Gulf oil and natural gas shipments to Europe.
Statement-II: Sumed pipeline connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Answer: (a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
Both statements are correct, and Statement-II explains Statement-I. The SUMED (Suez–Mediterranean) pipeline in Egypt runs from Ain Sukhna on the Gulf of Suez (Red Sea) to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean. This lets Gulf oil reach Europe by bypassing the Suez Canal for very large tankers.
Consider the following statements:
1. The Red Sea receives very little precipitation in any form.
2. No water enters the Red Sea from rivers.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2
Both statements are correct. The Red Sea lies in a hot desert belt with very little rainfall and high evaporation. No permanent rivers flow into it, which is why it is one of the saltiest seas.
Answer: (c) the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces about 70% or more of the world's cobalt, mostly from the copper–cobalt belt of Katanga. Cobalt is a key input in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
Answer: (a) Cameroon
The Congo Basin spans the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Nigeria, South Sudan and Uganda lie outside it.
Consider the following countries:
1. Bulgaria
2. Czech Republic
3. Hungary
4. Latvia
5. Lithuania
6. Romania
How many of the above-mentioned countries share a land border with Ukraine?
Answer: (a) Only two
Ukraine shares land borders with Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. Of the countries listed, only Hungary and Romania border Ukraine.
Answer: (b) Lake Faguibine
Lake Faguibine in northern Mali (near Timbuktu), once one of West Africa's largest lakes, has largely dried up since the 1970s droughts and is now mostly desert.
Lake Victoria is in East Africa, Lake Oguta is in Nigeria and Lake Volta (a reservoir in Ghana) still holds water.
Answer: (a) Region along the eastern Mediterranean shores
The Levant is the region along the eastern Mediterranean shore: roughly Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, and sometimes Cyprus and southern Turkey.
Consider the following countries:
1. Azerbaijan
2. Kyrgyzstan
3. Tajikistan
4. Turkmenistan
5. Uzbekistan
Which of the above have borders with Afghanistan?
Answer: (c) 3, 4 and 5 only
Afghanistan borders three Central Asian states to its north: Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Kyrgyzstan is separated by Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan, and Azerbaijan lies west of the Caspian Sea.
Consider the following pairs:
River - Flows into
1. Mekong - Andaman Sea
2. Thames - Irish Sea
3. Volga - Caspian Sea
4. Zambezi - Indian Ocean
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer: (c) 3 and 4 only
Pair 1 is wrong: the Mekong flows into the South China Sea.
Pair 2 is wrong: the Thames flows into the North Sea.
Pair 3 is correct: the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea.
Pair 4 is correct: the Zambezi enters the Indian Ocean through Mozambique.
Answer: (a) Tobacco, cocoa and rubber
Tobacco, cocoa and rubber were all domesticated in the Americas (New World) and later taken to the Old World.
Cotton, coffee, sugarcane and wheat were domesticated in the Old World (cotton also independently in the Americas).
Consider the following pairs:
Sea - Bordering country
1. Adriatic Sea - Albania
2. Black Sea - Croatia
3. Caspian Sea - Kazakhstan
4. Mediterranean Sea - Morocco
5. Red Sea - Syria
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Answer: (b) 1, 3 and 4 only
Albania borders the Adriatic, Kazakhstan the Caspian and Morocco the Mediterranean.
Croatia is on the Adriatic, not the Black Sea, and Syria is on the Mediterranean, not the Red Sea.
Which of the following has/have shrunk immensely/dried up in the recent past due to human activities?
1. Aral Sea
2. Black Sea
3. Lake Baikal
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer: (a) 1 only
The Aral Sea has shrunk dramatically since the 1960s because the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers were diverted for irrigation.
The Black Sea and Lake Baikal have not dried up.
Mediterranean Sea is a border of which of the following countries?
1. Jordan
2. Iraq
3. Lebanon
4. Syria
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer: (c) 3 and 4 only
Lebanon and Syria border the Mediterranean.
Jordan touches only the Red Sea (Gulf of Aqaba), and Iraq only the Persian Gulf.
Timed mock tests with negative marking, in English and हिन्दी, with an explanation for every answer and subject-wise analysis of your result.
